Water 1
by MithrilEvanesco
Summary: Some things happen because of fate, some things happen because that's what you chose. You can't choose the person you love, but you can choose the person you marry, hopefully they're the same person. Rated M for later. Start PreThor movies, not sure where it's ending.


**A/N: So just a quick word before you begin reading this, I do not know much about the Thor World, just what I've gleaned on my own, I do not know nearly as much as I should so forgive me if some things feel off (it shouldn't I did my research :P). I already have 4-5 chapters lined up so let me know when you want more! Meanwhile I'll be doing my best to finish this story :)**

Water

Chapter 1

Nia stood quietly with a group of four other girls, five total. They were standing in the front entrance of Odin's palace, she couldn't believe she had been chosen; granted she was of noble birth, a Lord's daughter, but not her. There were far prettier girls in Asgard, smarter ones too. Nia wasn't stupid or ugly, she was just well, normal. Her ash blonde hair was long and gently curled and she had warm brown eyes, sadly she didn't have an overly shapely body as many girls, but the curves were there. She was nothing special, that she knew, no special talents lurking behind her outward appearance.

Surprisingly she had already seen a few suitors, none of which she had been keen on, neither had her parents, therefore those ended in rejection, except Marcus. Marcus was a man who worked as a warrior in Odin's army, hardly a suitable match for a noble-born girl such as herself. Marcus was hardly unworthy though, he swept Nia away in the heat of the night, to ride in the valley, and walk through the streets. She just hadn't been able to break it to her parents yet, until her father told her she had been chosen for the Prince.

Nia still couldn't grasp the idea that she had been chosen for the Prince to court. Many noblemen had a few banquets each year and chose a bride from those, any girl would be lucky to be married off to a man with status so there wasn't much courting involved, they chose and the girl went willingly. The Princes of Asgard did the same, they held a few banquets and chose any number of girls who would come to the palace and from there he would chose one girl to whom he'd marry.

Thor was awaiting his choice in brides, as Sif was still an all likely option, a preferred choice that is. However the younger Prince had not taken a specific interest in any woman, therefore Odin was announcing his betrothal to a girl of his choice.

Loki was standing in the throne room, he really didn't want to do this; him married? The only one more excited than Thor was Frigga, the only reason Thor was excited was the endless amount of teasing he could now lay on Loki.

"Father, is this really necessary?" Loki drawled again, fiddling with a ring he wore on his middle right finger.

"No Loki, it's not. But I think it would be good for you. You haven't shown any interest in any of the young ladies who come through Asgard, so now you must choose one. It's mostly for peacekeeping purposes, these are the daughters of important men in our world and being in their good graces could really change Asgard." Odin said with finality.

_Great, _Loki thought, _I'm just being forced into this because of politics._ He sighed and followed Thor into another room where the girls were waiting.

He observed them all carefully, if he was going to have to put up with one of these for any extended period of time she had better look nice. He immediately ruled two girls out; both had sunny golden hair and bright blue eyes, they looked far too similar to the rest of his family. He wanted a girl who looked different, like him. Out of the remaining three he dipped into their minds, one was admiring Thor, gone. Another was wondering how in the Nine Realms she had ended up there, and the last one was wondering how long until Loki chose her. Loki looked at the five girls with distaste none of them suited him. He couldn't look at two of them, one of them fancied his brother, and another was so cocky that her confidence rivaled his own. The girl standing in the middle however was now thinking about her cat and how lonely she must be at home with no one to look after her. Rolling his eyes Loki took a deeper look into her mind, she was well educated and brought up within society. But then a blue streak entered her mind, as soon as it was there, it had gone, it had been there for a split second before she had managed to shove it to the back of her mind.

Loki grinned, she had magic in her blood; not a lot, but it was there. He smiled at his father and preceded to walk towards the girls, this could be a little fun. He looked at each one of them; all of them hopeful save the magic one, she was scared. Turning his back Loki merely walked up to Odin and said, "The blonde in the middle," and left.

Frigga shook her head as she watched Loki leave, "What a useless boy" she murmured fondly. She walked up to the girl in the middle and held out a hand to her, the girl was obviously frightened, but took it. "The rest of you are dismissed." Frigga said, "Now, what's your name? I know you are Aster's daughter."

Nia nodded, "My name is Nia." She spoke quietly.

Frigga smiled, "Come along then, I'll show you to your chambers." As the Queen led the terrified girl through the corridors she began talking, "I remember when I was young and betrothed to Odin, I was scared out of my wits! It's not too bad dear, Loki is a tough nut to crack, but he's worth it." Frigga gave Nia an encouraging smile, "I promise."

She opened a heavy door; inside was lit with candles and distinctly femininely decorated. "Anything you wish to have brought here from your home, inform me and I will see to it that it is done." Frigga smiled again before leaving the room.

Nia couldn't help but be in awe at the splendor she found herself in, her home had been wonderful and her parents had been wealthy, but it was nothing in comparison to where she was now. Her bed was far too large for her and had the most pillows she had ever seen on one bed. She opened the closet and found gowns for every occasion hanging; in the drawers she found underwear and slips, as well as a satin robe.

All she could do was sigh and walk to the window, the window opened up all of Asgard to her and she figured she could pinpoint her house from there. She breathed on the window to create a fog and then drew idly in the window; her thoughts were those of Marcus and with those thoughts sadness welled up inside her.

"What in the Nine Realms are you doing?" A smooth voice interrupted her.

Startled Nia spun clumsily around and stood face-to-face with her intended. Loki stood in front of her with a raised brow wondering how he had managed to pick the crazy girl.

"Please don't make me believe I picked the deranged girl? I didn't did I?" He asked.

"N-no, your Highness. I was just drawing in the fog." She muttered looking down.

Loki shook his head, "No formalities please, you will call me Loki as I will call you Nia. And why would you draw there, you have paper and writing utensils at your disposal?" He looked genuinely confused; this made Nia want to laugh.

"Forgive me, Loki," She giggled, "But have you never done something just for the sake of doing it? There doesn't have to be a meaning or a reason behind everything. I draw in the fog on the window because it makes Asgard look different, it skews my perspective and makes me think a little bit harder about the where I am." She looked longingly out the window again; droplets of water had streaked through her drawing of a horse making it almost undecipherable.

"So I picked the philosophical one?" Loki asked.

"I suppose so." Nia said wistfully.

"You do not want to be here." He stated.

Nia gave him a sad smile, "No, I don't."

"Was there someone else?" Loki asked.

She felt her face heat, "Yes," Nia lowered her head, "But it wasn't suitable anyways."

Loki smirked, "A commoner then?"

"A warrior in your father's army." She sighed.

His smirk faltered, he couldn't compete with a warrior. "Do you wish I hadn't picked you?"

Nia felt a pang of sadness at the thought of never seeing Marcus again, but there was also an underlying sense of adventure. She looked up at Loki and gave him a smile, "No, can you imagine the scandals those other four girls would have caused? I'm sure the one would have started sleeping with your brother." Nia laughed.

Loki graced her with a laugh, "Yes the other four did not have any pure thoughts of having me, and they merely wanted the life that came with it. You however weren't thinking about anything like that, I do recall you thinking of a cat." Loki gave her a bemused look.

Once again Nia felt her face heat up, "Oh gods, I can't believe you read that. I'm sorry, she's my cat and I'm worried my mother will toss her once she hears I'm not going back home. Wait a minute, you heard me think of my cat?"

Loki gave her a lazy smile, "The possibilities of magic are endless. Is your cat one thing you'd like to come here?" Loki asked.

Nia pondered his answer about the magic, he was said to be more than proficient at it, and she didn't see why he couldn't read minds when he wanted to. She decided to worry about that later and answer his question, "Yes please." Nia giggled again, "I never thought I'd be having a conversation with Prince Loki about my cat."

"Nor I, believe me." Loki rolled his eyes, which landed on her open closet. "Did any of the dresses fit you?"

"Oh, I hadn't tried them. But judging by the looks of them they will all be too large." Nia scrunched up her nose.

"Yes, you do have a rather small figure." Loki observed.

Nia huffed. She turned away and began idly walking about her new chambers. "So you're allowed to come in here and bother me whenever you like?"

"Of course," he scoffed, "We're to be wed, Love. Soon we'll share the same chambers." Loki considered her look of terror for a minute, "Unless you find me so revolting you'd rather live separate lives forever." He finished, twirling his ring.

Nia recovered herself; "I do not find you at all revolting, far from it. You just caught me off guard; just as I begin to get used to this new idea of life, it all becomes suffocating, it feels as though I can't breathe. I need time to get used to this." She tried explaining, but the Prince, already offended had gone to leave.

Hand on the doorknob he said quietly, "I'll get your cat tomorrow."


End file.
